Posted: Wed 8 January, 2014 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Agency Idiocy, Business, Cynicism, Getting Organised, Own Business, Work-related |
With the current contract ending in two week’s time, this week marks the start of getting back into applying for new ones.
It’s not too bad a thing – and I’m so used to it, it’s just not really stressful any more – but does make me organised when it comes to keeping the CV up to date, and managing my own profile on shit like LinkedIn and (my favourite) JobServe.
I hate LinkedIn with a passion. However, it’s now the ‘go to’ site for lazy recruiters, so I kind of have to have a profile there and so on. I’ve made connections with some decent recruiters (and a whole horde of crap ones) but I don’t think I’ve ever actually got an advertised role from LinkedIn. I actually get all my jobs through either
- recruiters I’ve worked with before or
- JobServe
Still, I keep my profile on LinkedIn – I suppose one day it may be useful. I can’t really think of what kind of situation that would be, but one remains optimistic.
In the meantime, back to sending out CVs in response to ads, and dealing with recruiters with little to no clue about what the jobs actually entail, or what parts of skillset are truly relevant. Joy and happiness, be unconfined…
Posted: Tue 20 August, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 1BEM, Agency Idiocy, Customer Services, Cynicism, People, Travel, Work-related |
Despite having agreed to a contract, I had one interview that pre-dated that acceptance, and rather than piss people off by saying “I’ve taken a contract, so cancel the interview”, I’d decided to still go. The agency in question have been a ‘mare, asking me no less than three times to confirm that I was going. (and no, they’re not aware of the now existing contract offer) On each occasion I’ve replied to the original interview confirmation, with the relevant agency recipients copied in.
I went to the interview today in the company’s Northampton office, got there in plenty of time, waited outside reading my book (Well, Kindle, but same thing) and went in on time. Only the person I was meant to be seeing wasn’t there. No worries, they said, we’re sure he’s on his way. We’ll call and check.
I waited quarter of an hour, and in that time got a call from the agency. I ignored it – no way am I taking calls while I’m waiting for an interview to start. On this occasion, maybe I should’ve done.
Anyway, the person I’ve been dealing with in the office comes back in, and explains that actually I’m supposed to be meeting them in – um – Coventry. Even better, I’m not the first person this has happened to with this agency, I’m the second. To do it once is a fuck-up. To do it twice is to be a fuckup.
Needless to say, once I got out of the office, I went ballistic at the agency, who really don’t quite know what to do with themselves about it. If it were someone else involved, I’d probably laugh. (And come tomorrow, probably I’ll laugh too)
In the meantime though, it’s been a totally wasted afternoon, and has necessitated a complete reorganisation of the interview – not just day and time, but also location. It’s now on Friday, late afternoon, near Heathrow. Yep, late in the day, just before a Bank Holiday weekend. I suspect I may just be cancelling that one, once all the contract paperwork is through and completed…
Posted: Mon 7 February, 2011 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: 1BEM, Agency Idiocy, Business, Cynicism, Design, Geeky, People, Stupidity, Work-related |
Via the linguistic/literacy genius known as Sevitz (or Svetzi) comes this gem…
Oh. My. God.
I’ve worked with some spectacular options for Yes/No, but this one is way up there.
Posted: Fri 29 January, 2010 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Advertising, Agency Idiocy, Creativity, Cynicism, Thoughts |
When I went to see “Avatar”, I got in in time to see some of the adverts before things started – not just the trailers and ads, but the localised ones that show while people are coming in.
I don’t know how much they cost – they’re just basic flat ads with not much happening – but one caught my irritation all the same. It was for a company called Selesti, and was just a plain white page with blue text saying “We make websites”, and some contact details.
It was pretty much the dullest ad in the set – an achievement in itself – and really surprised me. For a company that’s supposed to be all creative and whizzy, the ad didn’t speak of any of that. It actually conveyed “We paid for this, but really couldn’t be arsed to do anything with it”. Even if they’d used “We Write Websites” it would’ve been better, and would’ve at least implied the connection to www. addresses/domains. But no, “We make websites”.
I wonder how much business Selesti have gained through this ad at the cinema? Even more, I wonder how much they’ve lost…
Posted: Tue 12 January, 2010 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Agency Idiocy, Business |
If you were to get this from an agency, what would be your response?
2 urgent PHP contracts to strart in next 2 weeks
[Skillset list – I won’t add it all here]
1 Junior and 1 mid/senior level
Thanks
And that’s it.
My written response was probably more civil than it should’ve been, because my mental response was “Up yours, fuckbag. You can’t even be arsed to put the location or rate, so fuck you.“
Posted: Mon 14 December, 2009 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Advertising, Agency Idiocy, News, Thoughts |
First of all I have to say that I really don’t give a tin shit about Tiger Woods, who he has (or hasn’t) shagged, or anything else about the situation. Not my business. Don’t know him, will never know him, don’t really care what he does with his life, wife, others, or anything else.
However, I did find it funny today that Accenture have decided that in light of his activities and revelations, Tiger Woods is no longer ‘the right representative’ for them.
For those who don’t know, Accenture used to be Arthur Andersen, a global outsourcing and consultancy company.
In my experience, consultancy companies come in all full of themselves and how great they are, fuck you up all over the place, charge extortionately for the privilege, and then screw off with the money, leaving a shitpile of fuckuppery behind them.
As such, I’d say that Tiger Woods right now is the perfect person to represent them…
Posted: Tue 29 September, 2009 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Agency Idiocy, Charm School, Customer Services, Depression, Domestic, Thoughts, Work-related |
Today I got a call from one of the agencies I’ve been dealing with, and all of a sudden everything changes.
The contract I was supposed to be starting on Monday has been cancelled. Apparently the directors of the company in question have decided that the project won’t go ahead, so they’ve pulled the budget for it.
And lo, no job for me. All my paperwork had been signed, ID stuff sent and the like and now it’s all for fuck-all.
This is one of the things I hate about contracting over having a “proper” job – and that’s a pretty small list, believe me – that things like this can happen at the drop of a hat. If it were a ‘proper’ job, the project decisions and budget would all have most likely been sorted well before it came round to getting someone to do the work. It’s something that seems to have been happening quite a bit this year, and it’s not something I’ve seen prior to this. Sure, I’ve had one contract come to an end before it was supposed to – and I’ve had plenty more extend well past when they were supposed to finish – but up ’til now I’ve not had to deal with ones that get cancelled before they start.
It leaves me at a bit of a loose end, as I’d already closed off the current contract to end on Friday so everything was ready for Monday’s start at the – now non-existent – new place.
So I’m back to square one. Sending out updated CVs, talking to agencies, going to interviews.
I won’t deny, it’s been a serious hit on me today – I’m not feeling great anyway, so this has just been kind of the last thing I needed. All told, it makes me want to chuck in the entire thing and head off to Pastures New (or at least Pastures Different) with a totally different job/career/work-life.
It won’t happen yet, no matter how much I want it to – but I think it’s something I need to start properly working towards. (And I know, that’s not grammatical – I just can’t think of the grammatical way to put it)
In summary? Today’s bollocks. Next week ain’t looking good, either.
